Minds of the Movement

While armed conflicts were once fought on the front lines, today social media has become a parallel battlefield. Without bombs, rifles or machetes, social media now allows anti-democratic parties to manipulate opinion, spread false narratives, and harass and demonize activists, journalists and researchers who do not share their narratives. In this regard, the current conflict in Congo offers a telling example of the nature and scope of online disinformation, as well as the strategies that peace activists can adopt to counter it. […]

During a three-year judicial training in Poland, I was taught how to deal with different cases as a judge. I had to pass a very difficult judicial exam knowing all Supreme Court case law in criminal and civil law. Nobody, however, taught me how to deal with populists, how to defend judicial independence, or how to communicate with the public in accessible language. Much less how to combat politicians’ lies and their attacks on courts. […]

I’m sitting by the window in my office, in front of my computer. The chirping of birds and the backfire of a motorcycle are not enough to cover the explosions of heavy weapons nearby, up in the hills above Kenscoff, in Obléon, less than 5 kilometers away. The armed gangs launched their first attack on Kenscoff on January 27, 2025, in the Belot area. There, they massacred farmers and burned down their homes. […]

How has writing changed my life? Sharing my passion for writing about activism. Arusha, December 2024. Credit: Amber French.I had a very unconventional upbringing. I was born in 1974 in South Africa during the Apartheid era. At the time my mother was a domestic worker for a white Jewish family. The dynamics of being brought up through a white lens while my mother lived in the back room as the maid created many internal crises. The country, law and society reinforced the insolence that white is right, and for many decades I believed and adopted that internal racism […]

“As an activist and writer who uses storytelling as a revolutionary tool, I’ve faced much criticism, even from activist circles. Some label us cowards, frauds, or too safe, claiming that real resistance happens only in the streets. But how can they ignore the countless comrades who have been arrested, tortured, or disappeared because of their writing? How can anyone call this form of resistance cowardly when so many have been forced into exile, torn away from their motherlands and loved ones for daring to speak truth to power? […]”

Last August, Nigerians across the nation took to the streets to protest poor governance. Police and other security forces cracked down on the demonstrations, resulting in some 20 deaths. Even prior to this acute repression, the Nigerian state and state-ordered actors had for weeks attempted to instill a climate of fear and control the public narrative about the campaign. Yet concerned Nigerians and the campaign organizers, who hailed from several movements and civil society groups, were prepared to counter these measures. […]